armavsasmaTell them apart

Which to use

“arma” and “asma” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,913
“arma” frequency rank
#15,737
“asma” frequency rank
17650
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arma asma
Definition instrumento usado para ataque e defesa doença inflamatória crônica caracterizada por obstrução ao fluxo de ar nas vias respiratórias, cuja causa não está completamente elucidada

Letter map: arma vs asma

Shared letters muted; letters that set arma and asma apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
arma
4 ch
asma

Corpus notes: arma and asma

arma and asma are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - r in “arma” becomes s in “asma”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17650, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arma is recorded at frequency rank #1,913, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɾmɐ/. asma is at rank #15,737, tagged as anoun.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 17650, this pair ranks #53,541 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of arma vs asma

Shared letters: am. Private to "arma": r. Private to "asma": s.

"arma" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "asma" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • armaamra · aram · armma · arrma
  • asmaasam · asmma · assma

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "arma" for "asma" ever safe?
No. They differ by a single letter - r in “arma” becomes s in “asma”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "arma" or "asma"?
"arma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,913 in our Portuguese list, against #15,737 for "asma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "arma" and "asma". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "arma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "asma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #53,541 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "arma" and "asma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ASC vs asma". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #53,541 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list